Later this month, a number of quarterly results will be coming from other major players including Air Products & Chemicals (APD), LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB), and Praxair, Inc. (PX). I’ll make a some TL;DR summaries of the results as they come out to help you follow what’s happening in the public markets.

💸 IPOs

Bloom Energy, a maker of fuel cell power generators that has raised $1.2 billion from investors over its 15-year history and was valued by investors at $2.9 billion back in 2011, has filed confidential IPO papers.

Bloom Energy has some of the biggest venture capitalists (e.g. KPCB’s John Doer, a Google / Amazon investor) in Silicon Valley as backers and former Secretary of State Colin Powell on its board. Bloom Energy makes power generators that take in natural gas and convert it to electricity. Customers, including eBay, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and FedEx, have put Bloom Energy’s generators at their offices in hopes of reduced energy costs.

🎉 M&A News 🎊

Total SA has agreed to sell specialty chemicals business, Atotech, a a supplier of plating chemicals, to investment firm The Carlyle Group for $3.2 billion, part of the French oil major’s efforts to slim down and raise cash in the face of a slump in oil prices.

American Securities has agreed to acquire Ohio-based Chromaflo Technologies Corp, a provider of colorants and chemical dispersions

Valagro SpA, an Italy-based maker of biostimulants and specialty nutrients, has raised an undisclosed amount of growth equity funding from Metalmark Capital

RSP Permain (NYSE: RSSP) has agreed to acquire Silver Hill Energy Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company focused on the Permian Basin, for $2.4 billion in cash from Silver Hill shareholders like Kayne Anderson and Ridgemont Equity Partners

CIC Partners has acquired a majority stake in Activa Resources LLC, a San Antonio, Texas-based oil and gas company focused on acquiring legacy oil and gas fields and applying new optimization technology

Abraaj Group has acquired a minority equity stake in Indorama Fertilizers BV, the largest urea fertilizer manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa, from Dutch petrochemicals company Indorama Corp.

Centerbridge Partners and Littlejohn & Co. have become the largest shareholders in Houston-based oil drilling services business Stallion Oilfield Holdings Inc.

Clearlake Capital Group has sponsored an out-of-bankruptcy recapitalization of Light Tower Rentals Inc., an Odessa, Texas-based specialty equipment rental company focused on oil and gas operations in the prolific Permian Basin.

Equistone Partners Europe has acquired a majority stake in United Initiators, a German producer of specialty chemical initiators, from Vision Capital and Speyside Equity

First Reserve has agreed to acquire Gas Natural Inc. (NYSE MKT: EGAS), a Cleveland-based operator of local natural gas utilities serving around 68,000 customers in Maine, Montana, North Carolina and Ohio.

Precision Global, a New York-based portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital, has acquired Ralpet Plastics, an Australian manufacturer of injection and blow molded plastics products

🗿 Interesting Industry News, Trends, & Opinions (my own)

The Nobel Prizes came out last week and some cool images and videos came from the selection committee worth taking a look at:

“Autophagy” or self-eating is the process of degrading and recycling cellular components

The organelle autophagosome engulfs cellular contents and fuses with the lysosome, where the contents are degraded

The interest in autophagy generated an enormous interest and is now one of the most intensely studies areas of biomedical research

Chemistry: Feringa compares his work on the nanomachines to the Wright Brothers, who made their maiden flight more than 100 years ago. “People were saying, why do we need a flying machine? Now we have a Boeing 747 and an Airbus.” The molecular discovery “opens up a whole new world of nanomachines,” he said, while acknowledging that, as scientists figure out how to make machines that can operate autonomously, “we have to think about how we can handle these things safely.”

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